The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has thrown its weight behind U.S. congressman Riley Moore, who accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of denying the systematic persecution and killing of Christians across Nigeria.
The group said Moore’s comments reflect the grim reality on the ground and urged the U.S. Congress to approve former President Donald Trump’s earlier warning of decisive military action against terrorist groups responsible for mass atrocities.
National Coordinator of the association Comrade Emmanuel Nadozie Onwubiko in a statement on Tueday, said the Federal Government’s consistent denial of the crisis has become “suspicious,” noting that key officials who frequently defend the administration’s position—including the President, Vice President, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Information—are all Muslims.
This configuration, the group argued, has contributed to a pattern of dismissals that embolden violent actors and deepen impunity.
HURIWA referenced Moore’s interview on Fox News in which the U.S. lawmaker described Tinubu’s remarks as “completely false” and accused Nigerian leaders of being “complicit” in enabling extremist violence. Moore cited cases such as that of Sunday Jackson, an Adamawa Christian farmer sentenced to death after defending himself during an attack, describing it as evidence of a system biased against Christian victims.
The rights group said global indices have consistently identified Nigeria as the deadliest country in the world for Christians. It cited the Open Doors World Watch List, which repeatedly ranks Nigeria among the top two most dangerous nations for Christians, as well as data from Intersociety indicating that more than 7,000 Christians were killed in 2023 and over 50,000 since 2009 by armed groups including Boko Haram, ISWAP, and militant Fulani elements.
Reports by Amnesty International, the International Crisis Group, and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have similarly warned of targeted killings, abductions, sexual violence, and mass displacement.
HURIWA added that global moral authorities have also raised the alarm. The association recalled a recent statement by Pope Leo XIV condemning what he called the “indiscriminate slaughter” of Christian populations in Nigeria and urging world powers not to remain silent in the face of village raids and attacks on worship centres. The Pope stressed the need for “international responsibility” to halt the atrocities.
The group urged the U.S. Congress to treat its upcoming hearing on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria as a matter of urgency and to adopt stronger measures—including approving Trump’s call for targeted military operations against terrorist enclaves. Such a move, it said, would send a clear signal that the international community will no longer tolerate the mass killing of Christians.
HURIWA also demanded that the Nigerian government end what it called the “shielding of the truth” and instead embrace international cooperation aimed at dismantling terror networks. It warned that continued denial by top officials would only “fuel further bloodshed.”
Calling on democratic nations worldwide to stand with vulnerable Christian communities, the association warned that the scale, frequency, and consistency of attacks amount to a “slow-motion genocide” requiring immediate global intervention.
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This was easy to follow, even for someone new like me.